Do you ever feel like you are just not making progress? Stopping bad habits and starting good ones can feel like that. Or, what about that craft project you meant to finish before Thanksgiving? The loom is one place where progress is visible. You can’t fool yourself; the cloth beam shows you how far you have progressed. I find it encouraging to see the fabric that has been woven. What starts with an idea shows up as cloth.
It all started with an idea and eleven colors of wool.
As we settle into the very end of this year, we know that time keeps rolling on. The warp keeps advancing. This is a great time to look at the cloth beam of our life and see the progress. Like this blanket, much has been accomplished, but there’s more work ahead before it is time to cut it from the loom.
Bottom layer is spread on the loom.Upper layer is spread on the loom; and the two layers are combined on the back tie-on bar. Two sets of lease sticks keep all the ends in order.Beaming on two warps at once. After removing the choke ties, I beamed on with the warping trapeze, slowly and carefully. I stopped every few inches to check everything, to make sure nothing was getting hung up anywhere.Threadingheddles.Sampling helps determine weft colors, as well as checking the sett and weft density.Sample is cut off and warp ends are tied in bundles, ready to re-tie to front tie-on bar.Sample piece, after wet finishing, air drying, and brushing.Fringe, twisted on the loom, goes over the breast beam as the body of the blanket is being woven.Progress is revealed. The beginning blanket fringe has reached the cloth beam! The fold edge of the blanket is in view.Dusk dims the colors, yet enriches them at the same time.Glad-hearted Christmas to all! The camel is this year’s new figure in the hand-carved Nativity by Steve Isenhower. Bound rosepath provides the backdrop.
May you enjoy reflecting on the progress you have made this year.
Have you tried twisting fringe on the loom? I haven’t done it before now. You will find out with me how well this works, because I will show it to you when the blanket is woven and cut from the loom. A doubled warp thread runs through the fringe lineup, holding the twists in place. It is an amusing sight to see these yarn “toy soldiers” all lined up in color order. I know this should work. I know a lot of things; but my knowledge isn’t always as important as I think it is.
Upper and lower layers of a double-width blanket are seen in the twisted fringes. Care was taken to not weave the two layers together accidentally.
More important than what you know is who knows you. Everyone longs to be known. We want someone to know we are not just one of many in a lineup of nameless toy soldiers. God knows those who love him. He satisfies our desire to be known. And that reminds me that I really don’t know everything.
Skeins of Borgs 6/2 Tuna Wool for blanket weft. The weft is doubled, so I will wind quills using the two colors together.Wool skeins are first unwrapped and wound into balls using my old Beka yarn swift.
I am pleased with the first glimpse. I feel like I have captured my own personality and it is being woven into the cloth. Like this weft, you will not see the value of your gifts until you unwrap them and use them.
Very beginning of the wool blanket gives encouraging results. The teal/blue weft begins after the first few picks that space the warp.
Just as cloth reveals the nature of the weaver, gifts reveal the nature of the giver. God has prepared things for us that transcend human perception. Things which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man… If aspects of my personality are embedded in a handwoven blanket, how much more is God’s character woven into the good gifts he imparts to us?
This warp for the double-width wool blanket is taking some down time while I complete a finishingsample. The five-fold purpose of the sample is to 1) check the sett and 2) the weft density, and 3) to examine the fold to see if I need more, or less, weft at the turn, and 4) to test the wet-finishing process, and 5) to see the effect of brushing the finished piece. I am thankful for family, friends, fellowship, and finishing. (Thankful for blog friend Marie for first suggesting a finish sample.) I hope you, friend, get to have time with the ones you love, and have some down time to enjoy. Happy Thanksgiving!
Sample piece is cut from the loom. Warp will be tied back on to the front tie-on bar.One half of the double-width blanket sample. The fold is at the yellow.Other side of the double-width sample. The fold is at the yellow.Blanket fold revealed. Weaving double width means you only see one half until it is cut from the loom.Wet Finishing. Sample has been washed and dried. Washed on delicate cycle in washing machine for 3 minutes, no spin cycle. Air dried flat.Examining the fold after wet finishing. Also, notice the improved weft density in the final segment (brown weft at the bottom), when I applied a lighter beat.Blanket finishing sample.Blanket sample brushed on one side, using a stiff dog brush.Compare the brushed top side on the left to the unbrushed bottom side on the right.Brushed double weave finishing sample. Hmm… Could this be my new Christmas tree skirt?
May your family and friends experience your thankfulness.
I keep wondering about the weft that I forgot to purchase for this blanket. The heddles are threaded and the reed is sleyed; everything is ready…except the weft. As it turns out, I am gladI Forgot the Weft, because now I can try different options on the actual warp before committing to one single color.
Ends are grouped into bundles of 32 threads each at the back beam. Pre-counting into groups helps prevent threading errors. Each heddle holds two threads. As a group of ends are threaded, I re-check the threading, and then tie the bundle into a slip knot.Two sets of lease sticks, secured at the back beam, keep the two double weave layers separate and in order. The reed is cradled in place horizontally in front of the shafts for easy sleying, four ends per dent.
I am testing eight of the eleven warp colors, plus one more that I had in my stash. Nine colors. Think of it as nine questions. This one? This one? This one?… I am looking for weft that compliments the warp all the way across, showing off the warp gradation that spans both layers of the double weave. When the weft is woven in, rather than just held up for comparison, I find the answer unfolding before my eyes.
Barely an inch of each color, but it is enough for a favorite to stand out for me.
Questions are good. Be ready to ask genuine questions about life. Genuine, like weaving the threads, rather than simply laying threads on the surface for consideration. The Lord specifically answers a seeking heart. In this journey of discovery, the answers unfold. Those looking for truth will find it.
Which weft color would you choose (last picture, options 1 – 9, left to right)? The weft is doubled, so you can choose one color, or two colors combined. (I will reveal my choice later. The yarn arrived today!) Leave your answer in the comments.
